THE 


CONFEDERATE    STATES 


CONGRESS. 


THE 

CONFEDERATE    STATES 
CONGRESS. 


BY 

E.  W.  SIKES, 
Wake  Forest  College,  N.  C. 


RALEIGH,  N.  C: 

Edwards  &  Beoughton,  Printers  and  Binders. 

1903. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/confederatestateOOsike 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 


The  stress  of  battle  and  the  clash  of  arms  have  ab- 
sorbed the  interest  in  the  ill-starred  Confederacy.  Little 
is  spoken  or  heard  of  those  men  who  battled  not  less 
valiantly  in  the  halls  of  its  Congress.  This  Congress 
was  born  in  the  hour  of  strife,  lived  its  life  in  the  stormy 
days  of  war,  and  died  in  the  darknesss  of  defeat  when 
victorious  armies  were  marching  "on  to  Richmond." 

Little  has  been  written,  for  little  is  known.  Most  of 
its  labor  was  performed  behind  closed  doors,  for  the  stern 
demands  of  war  permitted  little  publicity.  Its  record 
have  not  been  printed,  and  few,  if  any,  of  its  members 
have  written  memoirs.  Yet  there  were  many  acts  that 
were  necessarily  made  public.  In  those  chambers  we  can 
hear  the  sound  of  debate,  and  catch  glimpses  of  men 
fighting  to  found  and  perpetuate  the  cause  they  loved. 
In  this  Congress  were  men  bold,  patriotic,  experienced,  * 
and  wise.  Many  of  them  had  been  leaders  in  the  Federal 
Government,  some  came  from  the  Federal  Cabinet  to  cast 
their  lots  with  the  Confederacy,  and  others  from  Congress. 
The  congressional  history  of  the  Southern  Confederacy 
divides  itself  into  three  parts.  The  Provisional  Con- 
gress, or  convention  that  met  in  Montgomery,  February 
4,  1861,  and  closed  its  labors  in  Richmond  one  year  la- 
ter ;  the  first  Congress  which  met  in  Richmond,  Febru- 
ary 18,  1862,  where  it  held  many  sessions  till  it  expired 
two  years  later  ;  and  the  second  Congress  which  met  in 
May,  1864,  and  adjourned  sine  die  March,  1865,  on  the 
eve  of  the  fall  of  Richmond. 


-3S 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 


THE   PROVISIONAL   CONGRESS. 

The  Presidential  election  of  i860  was  fraught  with 
the  greatest  excitement.  The  old  Democratic  party 
went  down  in  defeat,  for  it  had  divided  itself  into  two 
wings — the  Northern  and  the  Southern.  The  new  and 
untried  Republican  party  had  succeeded  in  electing  Lin- 
coln President.  No  sooner  was  the  news  of  the  Repub- 
lican triumph  made  known  than  secession  became  a  burn- 
ing issue  in  some  of  the  Southern  States,  for  the  new 
President  had  declared  on  the  hustings  that  the  country 
could  not  remain  "one  part  slave  and  the  other  free." 

South  Carolina  was  the  first  to  act.  On  December  17, 
i860,  a  convention  met  and  passed  the  ordinance  of  seces- 
sion, which  repealed  the  ordinance  of  1788  by  which 
the  State  became  a  part  of  the  Federal  Union.  Again 
South  Carolina  had  become  a  State,  separate  and  inde- 
pendent, as  she  was  in  1788,  before  she  had  joined  the 
Federal  compact.  A  Governor  and  Cabinet  were  selected 
and  commissioners  appointed  to  the  Government  at 
Washington.  Mississippi,  Florida,  Alabama,  Georgia  and 
Louisiana  followed  in  quick  succession.  A  call  was 
made  for  these  States  to  send  representatives  to  a  conven- 
tion to  meet  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  on  February 
4,  1 861.  The  purpose  of  the  convention  was  to  form  a 
confederation  of  those  States  that  had  seceded  from  the 
Federal  Government.  These  delegates  met  on  Febru- 
ary 4th,  in  the  capital  of  Alabama,  and  so  Montgomery 
became  the  "  cradle  of  the  Confederacy. "  They  met  in  a 
hall  on  whose  walls  hung  the  pictures  of  Washington, 
Clay,  Marion,  and  Andrew  Jackson.  Amid  surroundings 
like  this  the  new-born  Confederacy  first  saw  the  light  of 
day. 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  5 

There  were  present  about  fifty  delegates,  for  Texas 
had  joined  the  number  on  February  ist. 

Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia,  who  had  only  two  months 
before  surrendered  the  portfolio  of  the  United  States 
Treasury,  was  elected  permanent  chairman,  or  president, 
and  J.  J.  Hooper,  of  Alabama,  secretary. 

Mr.  Cobb,  in  his  address,  declared  that  separation  was 
now  "perfect,  complete,  and  perpetual,"  that  we  should 
accord  to  our  late  sister  States,  who  are  identified  with 
us  in  interest,  feelings,  and  institutions,  a  cordial  wel- 
come to  unite  with  us  in  a  common  destiny,  while  with 
former  Confederates  we  should  maintain  a  most  friendly 
and  peaceful  relation,  both  politically  and  commercially." 

The  rules  of  procedure  were  prepared  by  Alex.  H. 
Stephens.  Mr.  Stephens  had  had  much  experience  in 
deliberative  bodies  and  knew  that  simplicity  was  the 
desirable  feature  of  parliamentary  procedure.  Mr. 
Stephens  was  always  very  proud  of  the  simplicity  of  his 
rules.  Of  course,  they  were  drawn  on  the  principle  that 
each  State  is  sovereign,  and  hence  entitled  to  only  one 
vote. 

The  first  real  work  of  the  convention  was  the  organ- 
ization of  a  provisional  government  for  the  States  as- 
sembled. There  had  been  little  change  in  the  State 
governments,  but  some  form  of  union  among  these 
seven  States  was  desirable.  A  committee  was  appointed 
who  reported  on  the  8th  of  February.  Their  work  was 
discussed  in  secret,  but  it  was  finally  adopted.  The  re- 
port was  that  the  new  provisional  government  should  be 
modelled  on  the  old  with  a  few  necessary  amendments. 
"Confederacy"  was  to  be  substituted  for  "Union;"  the 
legislative  power  of  the  provisional  government  was  to 
reside  in  the  convention  then  assembled,  which  was  to 


6  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

be  called  a  congress,  a  single-chambered  body;  a  pro- 
visional president  was  to  be  elected  for  the  Confederacy, 
who  was  to  hold  his  office  for  one  year,  unless  super- 
seded by  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  government; 
each  State  was  to  be  a  judicial  district,  the  judge  having 
all  the  powers  vested  in  the  district  and  circuit  judges; 
the  several  district  or  State  judges  together  constitut- 
ing the  Supreme  Court;  the  African  slave  trade  was  to 
be  prohibited;  and  Montgomery  was  to  be  the  temporary 
capital. 

The  first  work  of  this  Provisional  Congress  was  the 
election  of  a  Provisional  President  and  Vice-President. 
There  were  several  names  mentioned.  In  the  Canvas 
of  members  it  was  found  that  some  were  for  Robert 
Toombs,  of  Georgia,  a  staunch  and  bitter  secessionist, 
whose  fiery  speeches  in  the  halls  of  the  National  Con- 
gress had  made  his  name  and  character  well  known. 
Others  were  favorably  inclined  toward  Howell  Cobb,  an- 
other favorite  son  of  Georgia,  who  had  taken  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  secession  movement.  Still  others 
looked  kindly  upon  Rhett,  but  in  the  election  that  fol- 
lowed Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  who  was  not  a 
member  of  the  Congress,  received  the  cordial  and  unani- 
mous vote  of  all  members.  For  years  Mr.  Davis  had 
been  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  trusted  men  of  the 
nation.  As  a  soldier  he  had  won  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion in  the  Mexican  war  under  Taylor;  in  Congress  he 
had  the  reputation  of  a  scholar  and  statesman;  in  the 
management  of  the  war  department  under  President 
Pierce  he  had  won  merited  distinction  for  his  ability  and 
sincerity.  He  had  not  been  averse  to  secession  as  a 
means  of  righting  wrongs  that  he  thought  were  being 
heaped    upon    his  section.     He   was  a  member   of  the 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  7 

United  States  Senate  when  Mississippi  seceded.  He  at 
once  bade  farewell  to  the  Senate  in  a  speech  replete 
with  gentlemanly  dignity  and  bearing.     He  was  at  his 

—  home  in  Vicksburg  when  news  came  to  him  that  he  had 
been  elected  President  of  the  new  Confederacy.  In  no 
way  had  he  sought  the  office.  He  started  at  once  for 
Montgomery.     His  line  of  travel  was  one  long  ovation. 

Alexander  H.  Stephens  was  elected  Vice-President. 
He  was  the  very  opposite  of  Mr.  Davis.  Mr.  Davis  be- 
longed to  the  old  aristocratic  South,  proud  of  its  herit- 
age and  jealous  of  its  honor.     Mr.    Stephens  was  a  self- 

—  made  man.  Davis  was  tall  and  every  inch  a  soldier. 
Mr.  Stephens  was  feeble  in  body  though  a  giant  in  in- 
tellect. Davis  was  friendly  to  secession,  while  Stephens 
had  fought   against  it  to  the  last.     In  Georgia  he  had 

•v  begged  his  people  not  to  join  the  movement.  But  he 
felt  that  his  first  allegiance  was  to  his  State,  so  that 
when  Georgia  joined  the  secession  movement  he  fol- 
lowed his  State.  His  election  was  expected  to  please 
^  those  who  were  slow  to  secede. 

On  February  18th  the  inaugural  exercises  took  place 
on  a  large  platform  erected  in  front  of  the  capitol.  Mr. 
Davis,  Mr.  Stephens  and  other  officials  appeared  at  noon. 
Mr.  Davis'  inaugural  was  a  defense  of  the  new-born 
Confederacy.  "Thus,"  said  he,  "the  sovereign  States 
here  represented  proceeded  to  form  this  Confederacy; 
and  it  is  by  the  abuse  of  language  that  their  act  has 
been  denominated  revolution.  They  formed  a  new  alli- 
ance, but  in  each  State  its  government  has  remained." 

Mr.  Davis  later  announced  his  Cabinet,  which  was  to 
consist  of  Robert  Toombs,  Ga.,  Secretary  of  State;  L.  P. 
Walker,  Ala.,  of  War;  S.  R.  Mallory,  Fla.,  of  the  Navy; 
J.   H.  Reagan,    Texas,    of  Postffice;  C.    G.  Menninger, 


8  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

South   Carolina,  of  Treasury,   and  Judah  P.  Benjamin, 
Louisiana,  Attorney-General. 

These  men  were  for  the  most  part  men  of  national 
reputation  and  extensive  experience  in  governmental 
affairs.  They  represented  their  States;  they  were  now, 
as  they  had  been  before,  the  chosen  leaders.  They  were 
not  leaders  new  and  revolutionary.  They  had  been  and 
were  trusted. 

Various  committees  were  appointed  to  report  on  de- 
partmental organization.  One  committee  was  to  report 
on  the  adoption  of  a  new  national  flag.  The  report  of 
this  committee  provoked  a  warm  discussion.  Walter 
Brooke,  of  Alabama,  declared  that  he  was  for  making 
few  changes,  only  enough  to  distinguish  it  from  the  old 
on  the  field  of  battle.  He  declared  further  that  "the 
flag  of  '  Stars  and  Stripes '  is  the  idol  of  the  heart, 
around  which  cluster  memories  of  the  past  which  time 
can  not  efface  nor  cause  to  grow  dim."  But  Miles,  of 
South  Carolina,  spoke  in  quite  a  different  vein.  He 
replied  that  he  had  "regarded  from  his  youth  the  ' Stars 
and  Stripes'  as  emblems  of  tyranny  and  oppression." 

It  was  finally  decided  that  the  new  flag  should  consist 
of  two  broad  horizontal  bands  of  red,  separated  by  a 
white  band  of  the  same  width,  with  seven  white  stars  in 
a  circle.  This  flag  was  first  unfurled  over  the  Mont- . 
gomery  capitol  on  March  4th.  Later  this  flag  was 
changed.  It  was  so  like  the  Federal  flag  that  mistakes 
were  unavoidable. 

On  the  7th  of  March  President  Davis  was  authorized 
to  organize  an  army  of  100,000  men  "to  repel  invasion, 
maintain  the  rightful  possessions  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  to  secure  independence  against  threatened  assault." 
Gustave  T.   Beauregard  was  made  Brigadier-General  of 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  9 

the  Provisional  Army.  He  was  a  West  Pointer  and  had 
already  established  a  reputation  for  soldierly  qualities. 
w  On  March  nth  a  permanent  constitution  was  adopted 
by  this  convention-congress,  but  it  was  not  to  go  into 
effect  for  one  year.  In  the  meantime  it  was  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  States  for  ratification  or  rejection.  This 
permanent  constitution  was,  like  the  provisional  con- 
stitution, a  transcript  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  with  a 
few  wise  amendments.  These  were  a  clear  state- 
ment of  the  status  of  slavery  in  both  States  and 
Territories;  the  President  was  to  hold  his  office  for  six 
years  and  was  not  eligible  for  re-election,  heads  of  de- 
partments might  have  seats  on  the  floor  of  the  legisla- 
tive bodies,  and  appropriations  to  be  more  restricted  by 
the  President.  Yancey,  Mann  and  Rust  were  ap- 
pointed commissioners  to  Europe. 

This  convention,  having  organized  and  proposed  a 
permanent  constitution,  now  adjourned,  after  a  session 
'of  six  weeks,  subject  to  the  call  of  the  President.  These 
men  had  organized  the  new  government.  They  were 
now  to  rest  from  their  labor  for  a  season.  Both  the 
Federal  and  Confederate  Governments  stood  haltine. 
Neither  knew  the  wise  step;  in  neither  had  sentiment 
crystalized.  Virginia  and  North  Carolina — both  South- 
ern States — were  opposed  to  the  secession  movement. 
The  border  States  were  very  doubtful. 

But  things  were  not  to  remain  this  way  very  long. 
Qn  April  8th  Mr.  Lincoln  informed  Gov.  Pickens,  of 
South  Carolina,  that  he  would  provision  Maj.  Anderson 
in  Fort  Sumter  at  all  cost.  Gen.  Beauregard,  who  was 
in  command  of  the  troops  at  Charleston,  wired  for  in- 
structions from  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War.  The 
government   ordered    him   to  compel  the   evacuation  of 


10  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

the  fort  at  once.  All  this  resulted  in  the  firing  on  Fort 
Sumter  on  Friday  morning,  April  12th,  which  ushered 
in  the  civil  war. 

.    As  soon  as  Mr.   Davis  learned  Mr.  Lincoln  would  pro-  — 
vision  Fort  Sumter,  he  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the 
Provisional  Congress  at  Montgomery  on  April  29th.   But 
before  the  Congress  re-assembled,  the   war  had  begun.  - 
Virginia  and    North  Carolina  had  both  refused  the  call  - — 
of  troops  made  upon  them  by  President  Lincoln.     Vir- 
ginia was  quick  then  to  secede,    and  at  the   second  ses- 
sion asked  to  join  the   Confederacy.      Missouri  also  was  -*"" 
admitted.     North    Carolina   had   not  yet   seceded,   but 
Thos.  L.  Clingman  was  present  and  announced  that  his   ■ — 
State     would  co-operate  with  the   Confederacy.     Presi- 
dent Davis,  in  his  call  for  this   meeting,  said  that  it  was 
for  the  purpose  of   "meeting  the  hostile  declarations  of^- 
President    Lincoln,    sent  to    the  government  of  South 
Carolina."     In  his  address  Mr.   Davis  reviewed  the  his- 
tory of  the  country,   his  sending    "three  peace  com  mis-  "' 
sioners  to  Washington  who  were  deceived  by  the  crooked 
paths  of  diplomacy"  of  Mr.  Seward,  of  the  affair  at  Fort 
Sumter,   and  recommended    increased  activity  in  every 
department. 

The  Congress  adopted  resolutions  declaring  that  a 
state  of  war  existed  between  the  Confederacy  and  the 
United  States,  for  the  months  of  April  and  May  saw 
many  troops  pouring  into  the  City  of  Washington.  This 
session  was  very  short,  not  lasting  longer  than  three 
weeks — April  29th — May  22d.  Little  was  done,  for  it  was 
thought  that  the  government  had  ordnance  and  ammu-  __ 
nition  enough  for  150,000  men.  An  enlistment  act  was 
passed  without  any  time  limit;  $50,000,000  in  bonds,  ^* 
payable  in  20  years,    at  not   more  than  8  per  cent,    as 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  11 

the  treasurer  preferred,  $20, 000,000  in  treasury  notes  of 
not  less  than  $5  denominations  were  ordered  to  be  issued. 

Congress  now  determined  to  change  its  place  of  meet- 
ing. It  was  ordered  that  the  President  and  all  the  de- 
partments be  removed  to  Richmond,  and  that  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Congress  be  held  there.  Virginia  had 
joined  the  Confederacy,  and  it  was  thought  that  this 
move  would  give  the  new  government  all  the  weight  of 
Virginian  influence.  Early  in  the  struggle  it  was  seen 
that  the  Potomac  would  be  the  battle  arena.  On  May 
22nd  Congress  adjourned  to  meet  at  Richmond  July  20th. 

But  this  recess  of  four  months  were  not  idle  days. 
Each  government  felt  that  a  critical  stage  would  be 
reached  soon.  There  was  fighting  in  the  border  States 
and  along  the  Potomac.  The  government  of  the  Con- 
federacy moved  to  Richmond,  and  a  line  of  batteries 
were  placed  along  the  Southern  side  of  the  Potomac. 
Little  Bethel  was  fought,  Virginia  was  invaded.  Troops 
were  rushed  from  the  more  Southern  States  to  guard  the 
soil  of  Virginia  and  the  government  at  Richmond.  On 
July  2 1  st,  the  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  in 
Richmond,  the  first  great  fight  and  Confederate  victory 
took  place  at  Manassas. 

The  Congress  that  now  met  in  the  third  session  was 
full  of  joy  and  buoyancy.  Hope  sprang  high  in  their 
breast,  but  Mr.  Davis  knew  that  though  a  battle  had 
been  won,  no  victory  had  yet  been  achieved.  He  urged 
that  the  Congress  devote  itself  to  ways  and  means  for 
further  conduct  of  the  war.  He  realized  that  the  sting 
of  defeat  would  only  madden  the  North  and  make  them 
more  to  be  feared  than  ever.  Congress  authorized  Mr. 
Davis  to  accept  the  services  of  400,000  volunteers  for  at 
least  one  and  not  more  than  three  years;  to  take  con- 
2 


12  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

trol  of  telegraph  lines,  to  expel  aliens,  to  sequester  the 
property  of  alien  enemies  as  a  retaliatory  measure  for 
Federal  confiscations.  More  bonds  were  issued — the 
amount  not  to  be  more  than  $100,000,000,  and  treasury 
notes  payable  after  treaty  of  peace.  Then  followed  the 
war  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars.  Such 
legislation  was  the  beginning  of  that  financial  system 
that  laid  its  hand  upon  all  property  and  caused  such 
grievous  losses. 

Mr.  Davis  was  very  anxious  that  the  Confederacy 
should  receive  the  recognition  of  European  governments, 
and  still  other  commissioners  were  appointed  to  follow 
Yancey,  Mann,  and  Rush  to  Europe.  These  appointees 
were  Mason  and  Slidell,  both  of  whom  had  been  U.  S. 
Senators.  To  place  the  new  government  in  a  favorable 
light  before  Europe,  Congress  adopted  the  principles  of 
maritime  law  agreed  upon  at  the  Paris  Convention  of 
1856,  except  the  right  of  privateering. 

Congress  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  November  18th. 
At  the  appointed  hour  this  Congress  met  in  what  was  to 
be  its  last  session.  To  all  now  it  was  evident  that  the 
battle  at  Manassas  settled  nothing.  During  the  year 
North  and  South  Carolina  had  been  invaded  on  the  sea- 
coast,  and  Louisiana'  was  soon  to  be  threatened.  The 
ports  were  guarded  by  Federal  war  vessels,  and  McClellan 
had  been  ordered  to  train  a  great  army  for  the  conquest 
of  Richmond.  The  mighty  North  was  awakening  to  the 
task,  but  the  South  was  confident  that  all  invaders  could 
be  expelled. 

Sixty-six  million  dollars  was  voted  to  the  army  while 
only  $4,000,000  for  the  navy.  The  South  did  not  real- 
ize that  her  greatest  foe  was  not  the  land  forces  of  the 
Federal  government,    but   those  fearless  watch-dogs  of 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  13 

the  navy  that  guarded  the  entrance  to  her  ports.  To 
supply  these  funds,  in  addition  to  the  Treasury  notes  and 
Government  bonds  that  had  been  issued,  the  government 
proposed  that  planters  should  subscribe  for  bonds  and  pay 
for  them  when  the  cotton  crop  was  sold.  The  banks  in 
the  Confederacy  tried  hard  to  float  all  these  loans,  the 
bankers  met  at  Atlanta  in  June  and  agreed  to  receive 
these  notes  in  payment  of  all  dues.  They  adjourned  and 
met  in  Richmond,  where  they  declared  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  banks  and  capitalists  to  aid  the  government 
with  all  their  resources.  They  urged  that  the  war  should 
be  conducted  vigorously. 

This  session  continued  till  February  7,  1862,  when 
the  provisional  government  expired  and  the  permanent 
government  in  a  few  days  took  its  place.  This  ends  the 
first  year  of  the  civil  history  of  the  new-born  Confederacy. 
During  this  time  the  Southern  tier  of  border  States  had 
joined  the  Confederacy,  the  new  constitution  had  been 
adopted  by  the  States,  election  had  been  held  and  Sen- 
ator and  Congressman  were  now  wending  their  way  to 
Richmond  to  take  their  seats  in  the  First  Congress  of 
the  Confederacy.  With  regret  Mr.  Davis  saw  this  body 
break  up.  He  had  become  very  much  attached  to  them. 
They  had  been  the  leaders,  the  fathers  of  the  new  Con- 
federacy, and  appreciated  the  task  of  making  a  new  gov- 
ernment. Of  this  body  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
said  that  it  was  the  ablest  body  with  which  he  ever  served, 
and  singularly  free  from  revolutionary  spirit. 

THE    FIRST    CONGRESS. 

Thirteen  States  had  elected  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives to  this  First  Congress  under  the  permanent  Gov- 
ernment.    All  the  slave-holding  states  were  represented 


14  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

except  Delaware  and  Maryland.  Win.  L.  Yancey,  the 
leader  of  the  "fire-eaters,"  had  returned  from  his  fruit- 
less mission  in  Europe,  and  now  took  a  seat  as  Senator 
from  Alabama.  This  bold,  fiery  orator  could  not  stir 
the  heart  of  Europe  as  he  had  stirred  the  South.  R.  M. 
T.  Hunter,  who  had  succeeded  Robt.  Toombs  in  the  De- 
partment of  State,  now  gave  us  this  portfolio  and  became 
Senator  from  Virginia. 

On  February  18  this  government  began  its  existence. 
On  that  day  at  noon  the  vice-president  elect  Stephens 
called  the  Senate  to  order.  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  was  made 
president  pro  tern.  At  the  same  hour  Howell  Cobb 
called  the  new  House  of  Representatives  to  order,  and 
T.  S.  Bicock,  of  Virginia,  was  elected  speaker.  He 
made  an  address  of  some  length  in  which  he  said:  "Our 
new  constitution  is  put  into  operation  in  time  of  war, 
and  its  first  movements  are  disturbed  by  the  shock  of 
battle.  Our  new  system  is  designed  to  avoid  the  errors 
of  the  old.  Certainly  it  is  founded  in  a  different  system 
of  political  philosophy.  In  the  whole  book  of  expedien- 
cy there  is  no  place  for  falsehood  or  perjury." 

On  the  next  day  the  Senate  came  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  the  electoral  vote  for  the  presidency 
was  counted.  It  was  found  that  Davis  and  Stephens 
had  been  unamimously  re-elected,  each  having  109  votes. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  the  anniversary  of  Washing- 
ton's birth,  the  inauguration  took  place.  In  the  capitol 
square  at  Richmond  stands  a  most  magnificient  eques- 
trian statue  of  Washington.  It  was  under  the  shadow 
of  this  monument,  during  a  snow-storm,  that  President 
Davis  took  the  oath  of  office  and  delivered  his  inaugural. 
Mr.  Davis  alluded  to  this  monument  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  his  inaugural.      "On  the  birth  day  of  the 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  11 

the  treasurer  preferred,  $20,000,000  in  treasury  notes  of 
not  less  than  $5  denominations  were  ordered  to  be  issued. 

Congress  now  determined  to  change  its  place  of  meet- 
ing. It  was  ordered  that  the  President  and  all  the  de- 
partments be  removed  to  Richmond,  and  that  the  next 
meeting  of  the  Congress  be  held  there.  Virginia  had 
joined  the  Confederacy,  and  it  was  thought  that  this 
move  would  give  the  new  government  all  the  weight  of 
Virginian  influence.  Early  in  the  struggle  it  was  seen 
that  the  Potomac  would  be  the  battle  arena.  On  May 
22nd  Congress  adjourned  to  meet  at  Richmond  July  20th. 

But  this  recess  of  four  months  were  not  idle  days. 
Each  government  felt  that  a  critical  stage  would  be 
reached  soon.  There  was  fighting  in  the  border  States 
and  along  the  Potomac.  The  government  of  the  Con- 
federacy moved  to  Richmond,  and  a  line  of  batteries 
were  placed  along  the  Southern  side  of  the  Potomac. 
Little  Bethel  was  fought,  Virginia  was  invaded.  Troops 
were  rushed  from  the  more  Southern  States  to  guard  the 
soil  of  Virginia  and  the  government  at  Richmond.  On 
July  2 1  st,  the  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  Congress  in 
Richmond,  the  first  great  fight  and  Confederate  victory 
took  place  at  Manassas. 

The  Congress  that  now  met  in  the  third  session  was 
full  of  joy  and  buoyancy.  Hope  sprang  high  in  their 
breast,  but  Mr.  Davis  knew  that  though  a  battle  had 
been  won,  no  victory  had  yet  been  achieved.  He  urged 
that  the  Congress  devote  itself  to  ways  and  means  for 
further  conduct  of  the  war.  He  realized  that  the  sting 
of  defeat  would  only  madden  the  North  and  make  them 
more  to  be  feared  than  ever.  Congress  authorized  Mr. 
Davis  to  accept  the  services  of  400,000  volunteers  for  at 
least  one  and  not  more  than  three  years;  to  take  con- 
2 


12  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

trol  of  telegraph  lines,  to  expel  aliens,  to  sequester  the 
property  of  alien  enemies  as  a  retaliatory  measure  for 
Federal  confiscations.  More  bonds  were  issued — the 
amount  not  to  be  more  than  $100,000,000,  and  treasury 
notes  payable  after  treaty  of  peace.  Then  followed  the 
war  tax  of  fifty  cents  on  the  hundred  dollars.  Such 
legislation  was  the  beginning  of  that  fiuancial  system 
that  laid  its  hand  upon  all  property  and  caused  such 
grievous  losses. 

Mr.  Davis  was  very  anxious  that  the  Confederacy 
should  receive  the  recognition  of  European  governments, 
and  still  other  commissioners  were  appointed  to  follow 
Yancey,  Mann,  and  Rush  to  Europe.  These  appointees 
were  Mason  and  Slidell,  both  of  whom  had  been  U.  S. 
Senators.  To  place  the  new  government  in  a  favorable 
light  before  Europe,  Congress  adopted  the  principles  of 
maritime  law  agreed  upon  at  the  Paris  Convention  of 
1856,  except  the  right  of  privateering. 

Congress  then  adjourned  to  meet  on  November  18th. 
At  the  appointed  hour  this  Congress  met  in  what  was  to 
be  its  last  session.  To  all  now  it  was  evident  that  the 
battle  at  Manassas  settled  nothing.  During  the  year 
North  and  South  Carolina  had  been  invaded  on  the  sea- 
coast,  and  Louisiana  was  soon  to  be  threatened.  The 
ports  were  guarded  by  Federal  war  vessels,  and  McClellan 
had  been  ordered  to  train  a  great  army  for  the  conquest 
of  Richmond.  The  mighty  North  was  awakening  to  the 
task,  but  the  South  was  confident  that  all  invaders  could 
be  expelled. 

Sixty-six  million  dollars  was  voted  to  the  army  while 
only  $4,000,000  for  the  navy.  The  South  did  not  real- 
ize that  her  greatest  foe  was  not  the  land  forces  of  the 
Federal  government,    but    those  fearless  watch-dogs  of 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  13 

the  navy  that  guarded  the  entrance  to  her  ports.  To 
supply  these  funds,  in  addition  to  the  Treasury  notes  and 
Government  bonds  that  had  been  issued,  the  government 
proposed  that  planters  should  subscribe  for  bonds  and  pay 
for  them  when  the  cotton  crop  was  sold.  The  banks  in 
the  Confederacy  tried  hard  to  float  all  these  loans,  the 
bankers  met  at  Atlanta  in  June  and  agreed  to  receive 
these  notes  in  payment  of  all  dues.  They  adjourned  and 
met  in  Richmond,  where  they  declared  that  it  was  the 
duty  of  banks  and  capitalists  to  aid  the  government 
with  all  their  resources.  They  urged  that  the  war  should 
be  conducted  vigorously. 

This  session  continued  till  February  7,  1862,  when 
the  provisional  government  expired  and  the  permanent 
government  in  a  few  days  took  its  place.  This  ends  the 
first  year  of  the  civil  history  of  the  new-born  Confederacy. 
During  this  time  the  Southern  tier  of  border  States  had 
joined  the  Confederacy,  the  new  constitution  had  been 
adopted  by  the  States,  election  had  been  held  and  Sen- 
ator and  Congressman  were  now  wending  their  way  to 
Richmond  to  take  their  seats  in  the  First  Congress  of 
the  Confederacy.  With  regret  Mr.  Davis  saw  this  body 
break  up.  He  had  become  very  much  attached  to  them. 
They  had  been  the  leaders,  the  fathers  of  the  new  Con- 
federacy, and  appreciated  the  task  of  making  a  new  gov- 
ernment. Of  this  body  Mr.  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
said  that  it  was  the  ablest  body  with  which  he  ever  served, 
and  singularly  free  from  revolutionary  spirit. 

THE    FIRST    CONGRESS. 

Thirteen  States  had  elected  Senators  and  Representa- 
tives to  this  First  Congress  under  the  permanent  Gov- 
ernment.    All  the  slave-holding  states  were  represented 


14  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

except  Delaware  and  Maryland.  Wm.  L.  Yancey,  the 
leader  of  the  "fire-eaters,"  had  returned  from  his  fruit- 
less mission  in  Europe,  and  now  took  a  seat  as  Senator 
from  Alabama.  This  bold,  fiery  orator  could  not  stir 
the  heart  of  Europe  as  he  had  stirred  the  South.  R.  M. 
T.  Hunter,  who  had  succeeded  Robt.  Toombs  in  the  De- 
partment of  State,  now  gave  us  this  portfolio  and  became 
Senator  from  Virginia. 

On  February  18  this  government  began  its  existence. 
On  that  day  at  noon  the  vice-president  elect  Stephens 
called  the  Senate  to  order.  R.  M.  T.  Hunter  was  made 
president  pro  tern.  At  the  same  hour  Howell  Cobb 
called  the  new  House  of  Representatives  to  order,  and 
T.  S.  Bacock,  of  Virginia,  was  elected  speaker.  He 
made  an  address  of  some  length  in  which  he  said:  "Our 
new  constitution  is  put  into  operation  in  time  of  war, 
and  its  first  movements  are  disturbed  by  the  shock  of 
battle.  Our  new  system  is  designed  to  avoid  the  errors 
of  the  old.  Certainly  it  is  founded  in  a  different  system 
of  political  philosophy.  In  the  whole  book  of  expedien- 
cy there  is  no  place  for  falsehood  or  perjury." 

On  the  next  day  the  Senate  came  to  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, and  the  electoral  vote  for  the  presidency 
was  counted.  It  was  found  that  Davis  and  Stephens 
had  been  unamimously  re-elected,  each  having  109  votes. 

On  the  22d  of  February,  the  anniversary  of  Washing- 
ton's birth,  the  inauguration  took  place.  In  the  capitol 
square  at  Richmond  stands  a  most  magnificient  eques- 
trian statue  of  Washington.  It  was  under  the  shadow 
of  this  monument,  during  a  snow-storm,  that  President 
Davis  took  the  oath  of  office  and  delivered  his  inaugural. 
Mr.  Davis  alluded  to  this  monument  in  the  opening 
paragraph  of  his  inaugural.      "On  the  birth  day  of  the 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  15 

man  most  identified  with  the  establishment  of  American 
Independence,  and  beneath  a  monument  erected  to  com- 
memorate his  heroic  virtues  and  those  of  his  compatriots, 
we  have  assembled  to  usher  into  existence  the  permanent 
government  of  the  Confederate  States."  The  inaugural 
address  of  Mr.  Davis  spoke  of  the  cause  that  led  to  seces- 
sion, the  triumph  of  a  "sectional  party,"  Mr.  Lincoln's 
daily  sacrifice  of  personal  liberty,  the  growth  of  the  Con- 
federacy in  one  year  from  six  to  thirteen  States,  the 
great  debt  of  the  North  under  which  they  would  sink, 
the  rising  patriotism  of  the  South,  the  consequences  of 
a  blockade  and  self-support,  and  faith  in  the  final  out- 
come, though  the  cost  would  be  enormous  in  blood  and 
means. 

This  new  Congress  then  began  its  work.  It  was  in- 
deed a  new  body;  not  many  of  the  old  convention  body 
had  been  returned.  Out  of  about  fifty  who  met  in  the 
Montgomery  Congress  one  year  before,  not  more  than "' 
fifteen  were  returned.  Many  had  joined  the  army, 
Toombs,  Walker,  and  even  Davis  himself  had  preferred 
strenuous  military  life  to  the  dull  routine  of  civil  ad- 
ministration. 

The  first  heated  discussion  arose  on  the  conduct  of 
war.  The  "defensive  policy"  had  been  adopted,  no 
effort  had  been  made  to  invade  the  territory  of  the  en- 
emy, and  no  pursuit  was  made  after  the  Federal  flight  at 
Manassas.  At  present  there  was  no  plan  for  attacking 
the  enemy.  Mr.  Foote,  of  Tennessee,  introduced  a  reso- 
lution condemning  this  policy  and  urging  that  the  aggres- 
sive policy  be  substituted  for  it.  Mr.  Foote  declared 
that  "after  Bull  Run  the  Confederate  troops  should 
have  marched  into  'heroic  Maryland,'  the  war  might  now 
be  over,  for  then  the  enemy  had  only  75,000  men  and 
3 


16  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

they  were  out  mostly  on  a  4th  of  July  holiday."  But 
the  policy  of  the  administration  had  been  to  allow  the 
generals  in  the  field  to  use  their  discretion  concerning 
the  campaigns.  The  Congress  refused  to  interfere  and 
the  resolution  was  tabled. 

The  early  hopes  of  the  South  fondly  cherished  the  de- 
lusive idea  that  "Cotton  was  King."  Mr.  Cobb,  of 
Georgia,  in  the  first  session  of  the  Provisional  Congress 
at  Montgomery,  opposed  an  export  duty  on  cotton  declar- 
ing that  that  power  (cotton)  would  exert  an  influence 
mightier  than  armies  and  navies.  Now,  one  year  later, 
the  delusion  had  been  removed,  and  Congress  urged 
planters  not  to  cultivate  cotton  and  tobacco,  but  corn, 
cattle,  hogs,  and  provisions.  But  such  a  motion  met 
with  strong  opposition.  Many  declared  that  it  was  bad 
in  policy,  but  most  of  them  had  learned  that  King  Cot- 
ton was  a  delusion  and  a  snare.  Said  Semmes,  of  Louis- 
iana, "I  have  abondoned  the  idea  that  Cotton  is  King. 
We  have  tested  the  power  of  King  Cotton  and  found  him 
to  be  wanting.  We  must  now  abandon  all  dependence 
on  foreign  intervention.  The  English  will  never  inter- 
fere, because  it  is  not  for  their  interest.  Rather  than 
make  war  against  the  United  States,  the  English  gov- 
ernment would  maintain  her  hordes  of  storing  opera- 
tives." 

Congress  refused  to  pass  the  measure,  but  nevertheless 
King  Cotton  was  not  destined  to  be  the  key  to  unlock 
the  treasures  of  Europe  or  provoke  the  active  sympathy 
of  the  outside  world.  Commissioners  had  been  sent  to 
the  various  States  of  Europe,  especially  those  with  whom 
the  South  traded  and  who  drew  raw  material  from  the 
South.  So  firmly  had  a  portion  of  the  Congress  become 
convinced  that  foreign  aid  was  hopeless,  that  a  motion 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  17 

was  made  requesting  President  Davis  to  recall  the  com- 
missioners sent  to  Great  Britain,  but  the  motion  was  lost. 

But  the  most  important  work  that  lay  before  this  body  ! 
was  to  prepare  an  army  to  resist  the  threatened  invasion 
from  Washington.  They  knew  that  the  army  of 
McClellan  had  been  training  all  the  winter  and  would 
not  be  raw  volunteers  such  as  the  Confederate  armies 
had  met  at  Manassas.  Then,  too,  the  joy  of  the  first  vic- 
tory had  been  sullied  by  the  loss  of  Roanoke  Island, 
for  which  loss  Congress  blamed  Major-General  Huger 
and  Secretary  of  War  Benjamin.  But  the  saddest  of  all 
was  the  loss  of  the  battle  of  Shiloh.  Grant  had  begun 
to  win  victories  in  the  West.  The  infallible  Beauregard 
had  been  defeated.  The  great  question  now  was  to  pre- 
pare to  meet  McClellan  in  whatever  way  he  might  come. 
Many  of  those  who  had  fought  in  the  battle  of  Manassas 
had  gone  home,  foolishly  thinking  that  their  indepen- 
dence had  been  achieved. 

To  fill  up  these  decimated  ranks  and  to  secure  more  y 
troops  was  the  chief  work  of  the  Congress.  At  first,  en- 
listments were  for  one  year  only.  These  enlistments  ex- 
pired just  as  McClellan  was  getting  his  well-drilled 
troops  in  shape  for  his  famous  Peninsular  Campaign.  To 
meet  this  exigency  President  Davis  recommended  to 
Congress  the  passage  of  a  "Conscript  Iyaw,"  which 
recommendation  was  enacted  into  a  law  April  16th. 
This  Conscript  Law  annulled  all  previous  contracts 
made  by  volunteers,  and  by  explicit  terms  made  all  men 
under  the  age  of  thirty-five  and  over  fifteen,  or  until 
they  attained  the  age  of  thirty-five,  soldiers  for  the  war. 

It  drew  every  male  citizen  within  the  prescribed  lim- 
it from  the  control  of  the  State  and  placed  them  under 
the  president  for  the  war.     Finally  none  were  allowed 


18  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

to  withdraw  from  the  army,  regardless  of  the  conditions 
of  enlistment,  not  even  physicians  were  always  exempted. 
Mr.  Davis  justified  this  injustice  to  the  volunteers  on  the 
ground  that  it  was  to  ward  off  pressing  danger. 

The  !method  of  administering  the  law  was  to  send  a 
Confederate  officer  into  each  State  to  take  charge  of  the 
enlistments.  The  Governors  of  the  States  were  asked 
to  assist,  but  if  they  refused,  then  officers  of  the  Confed- 
eracy were  to  take  it  in  charge.  Of  course,  there  were 
many  exemptions,  but  the  effect  of  the  new  law  was  felt 
in  June  by  the  rapid  increase  of  the  Confederate  armies, 
so  great  an  increase  that  President  Lincoln  issued  in  July 
an  extra  call  for  300,000  more  men  for  the  war  and 
300,000  for  ninety  days.  But  the  enforcement  of  the 
conscription  law  begat  the  usual  opposition. 

It  was  urged  by  some  States  that  is  was  unconstitu- 
tional, an  interference  with  the  right  of  the  State. 
Governor  Brown,  of  Georgia,  protested  against  the  enlist- 
ment of  the  militia  officers.  North  Carolina  was  very 
much  chagrinned  that  every  able-bodied  man  should  be- 
come a  "hireling  soldier."  Mr.  Davis  justified  the  ex- 
treme measure* by  the  constitutional  war  power  of  the 
president.  State  sovereignty  was  an  inconvenient  en- 
cumbrance for  war  purposes.  This  was  the  first  step 
toward  a  military  government  with  power  consolidated 
in  the  Confederate  government.  But  such  acts  are  the 
necessities  of  war  on  a  huge  scale. 

Congress  had  now  striven  hard  to  prepare  the  Confed- 
eracy to  meet  the  great  army  of  McClellan.  They  now 
adjourned  for  the  summer  to  await  the  results.  Before 
they  meet  again  in  August  the  first  great  struggle 
around  Richmond  will  have  occurred,  and  Fair  Oaks, 
Seven  Pines,    Savage's    Station,  and   Malvern  Hill  will 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  19 

have    become  household  words  and  many  thousands  of 
soldiers  lie  dead  on  these  fields  of  carnage. 

On  August  18th  the  adjourned  session  of  Congress  met 
and  the  president's  message  was  read.  This  message 
spoke  of  the  vast  armies  that  had  threatened  the  Cap- 
ital of  the  Confederacy  and  their  defeat,  the  forgery  of 
the  money  obligations  of  the  Confederacy  by  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler's  conduct, 
of  the  harmonious  action  of  the  States,  of  a  need  for 
increase  of  the  army  and  the  exchange  of  prisoners. 

Soon  after  the  meeting  of  the  Congress,  Lee  won  the 
second  battle  at  Manassas  and  started  on  his  first  inva- 
sion of  the  North.  Again  Congress  began  to  discuss  the 
wisdom  of  the  movement,  but  deemed  it  best  to  leave 
such  matters  to  the  generals  in  the  field.  The  aggressive 
policy  was  indorsed  by  Congress,  the  press,  and  public ' 
sentiment. 

But  Lee's  venture  into  Maryland  was  futile.  He  soon 
returned  to  Richmond.  Many  questions  of  importance 
came  up  in  Congress,  but  they  were  not  matters  concern- 
ing the  conduct  of  armies.  They  were  how  to  support  the 
armies  and  supply  the  vacancies.  The  conscription  was 
extended  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five  years,  and  a  tax 
measure  was  proposed  collecting  one-fifth  of  all  the  pro- 
visions produced  in  the  South.  This  was  to  be  in  the 
nature  of  a  forced  loan. 

Propositions  of  a  peace  nature  were  heard  for  the  first 
time.  It  was  proposed  that  the  Northwest  should  be 
guaranteed  the  free  use  of  the  Mississippi  River  if  that 
section  would  cease  hostilities.  A  motion  was  tabled  to 
appoint  commissioners  to  Washington  to  arrange  for  a 
peace. 

But  it   was    Mr.   Lincoln's    threatened  emancipation 


20  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

proclamation  that  excited  the  ire  of  the  Congress  and 
the  people.  Vice-President  Stephens  said  that  this  threat 
uncovered  the  motive  for  the  war,  and  now  he  urged  the 
people  to  die  for  their  rights.  Representative  Semmes,  of 
Louisiana,  said  that  if  any  attempt  were  made  to  execute 
the  proclamation,  he  favored  hoisting  the  "black  flag" 
against  the  invaders  of  Confederate  soil.  Phelan,  of 
Mississippi,  declared  that  he  had  always  favored  the 
"black  flag"  as  the  quickest  meaas  of  ending  the  war. 
Hill,  of  Georgia,  however,  thought  that  Congress  took 
too  much  notice  of  the  proclamation,  that  it  was  a  mere 
brutem  fiilmen  to  serve  a  temporary  purpose  in  the  North, 
and  was  so  intended  by  Mr.  Lincoln.  To  meet  any 
danger  that  might  arise,  the  Judiciary  Committee  re- 
ported a  bill  punishing  with  death  any  one  commanding 
negroes  or  inciting  them  to  insurrection.  Finally  the 
discussion  was  ended  by  a  resolution  declaring  that  Con- 
gress would  sustain  the  president  in  any  retaliatory 
measures  he  might  adopt. 

The  Confederate  money  was  being  counterfeited  by 
the  Federals.  To  check  this  it  was  made  a  felony,  pun- 
ishable with  death.  There  was  a  long  discussion  on  the 
sequestration  of  property  which  involved  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  allegiance,  both  toward  the  State  and  the  Con- 
federacy. The  theories  of  peace  and  the  necessities  of 
war  ever  clashed  on  this  point.  Mr.  Hill,  of  Georgia,  in 
a  speech,  said:  "  No  man  found  cause  for  dissolution  in 
anything  the  Federal  government  did,  for  all  declared 
they  wanted  to  preserve  the  Union,  till  Lincoln  was 
elected;  not  against  the  Supreme  Court — that  tribunal 
was  faithful  till  the  last;  not  against  the  Federal  Con- 
gress, for  there  you  had  a  majority;  not  against  Mr. 
Buchanan,  par  excellence  the  man  chosen  by  the  South. 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  21 

The  Northern  States  nullified  the  laws  of  Congress. 
State  judges  took  it  upon  themselves  to  set  aside  the  acts 
of  Congress.  These  were  the  enormities  that  drove  the 
South  to  her  condition  of  determined  secession." 

The  year  '62  closed  with  greater  unanimity  in  the 
South,  and  a  stronger  determination  to  uphold  the  Con- 
federacy. The  States  ceased  to  insist  upon  constitutional 
rights  in  the  face  of  grave  dangers.  The  secret  sessions 
of  the  Congress  were  not  approved.  The  people  wanted 
to  know  what  was  being  done  and  talked  about  by  their 
representatives.  So  strong  did  this  feeling  become  that 
Wm.  Iv.  Yancey  proposed  that  no  more  sessions  be  held 
in  secret,  but  his  motion  failed. 

The  year  '63  was  the  critical  year  of  the  war.  In  that 
year  the  tide  of  war  reached  its  highest  point.  Already 
the  Confederate  Army  had  reached  its  greatest  number. 
Chancellorsville  was  won,  but  Gettysburg  and  Vicks- 
burg  were  lost.  The  effective  blockade  of  Southern 
ports  began  to  gnaw  into  the  vitals  of  the  Confederacy. 
Suffering  at  home  and  in  the  army  became  intense.  The 
whole  country  came  practically  under  military  control. 
The  Confederacy  was  making  a  desperate  effort  through 
Congress  to  fill  up  and  feed  the  ranks  of  its  hungry 
army.  The  conscription  act  was  extended  to  fifty  years 
and  no  substitutes  were  allowed.  In  the  year  1863  little 
was  left  for  Congress  to  do.  The  South  was  one  vast 
military  camp,  all  was  being  sacrificed  to  the  god  of 
war.  Impressment  commissioners  were  appointed  for 
each  State  to  determine  what  the  government  should 
pay  for  food  supplies.  The  paper  currency  had  become 
so  abundant  that  prices  were  demoralized.  The  agent 
of  the  government  was  authorized  to  seize  all  except 
enough  to  maintain  the  family.     The  administration  of 


22  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

this  law  was  necessarily  hard  and  shook  the  confidence 
of  the  people.  Transportation  facilities  were  so  poor 
that  the  tithe  often  rotted  before  the  tithe-gatherer  came 
to  take  it  away.  Railroads  gave  ont.  Ten  miles  an 
hour  was  fast  time.  No  repairs  had  been  made,  for  the 
employees  had  been  conscripted.  The  irons  were  worn 
out,  and  there  were  no  new  rails  to  replace  them. 

Mr.  Davis  had  urged  the  necessity  of  food  supply,  but 
the  fisheries  on  the  coast  had  been  closed  and  the  wheat 
crop  in  1862  in  many  places  had  been  a  failure.  Bread 
riots  occurred  in  Raleigh,  Salisbury,  Richmond,  and 
Mobile.  But  how  could  it  be  otherwise  when  prosper- 
ous sections  had  been  devastated  by  the  enemy,  when 
the  farmers  had  been  conscripted,  and  the  paper  money 
was  no  longer  medium  of  exchange?  It  was  a  time  like 
this  that  elections  were  coming  on  for  a  new  Congress. 
What  a  change  from  the  election  day  of  1861  !  Of  the 
men  who  voted  in  1861  many  were  dead  on  the  battle 
fields,  others  were  prisoners,  and  the  rest  doing  military 
duty  of  some  kind.  The  elections  were  held  and  the 
new  Congress  met  in  Richmond,  May,  1864. 

THE   SECOND    CONGRESS. 

The  newly-elected  Congress  met  in  its  first  session  on 
May  2d,  at  Richmond.  Of  the  old  members  fifty-seven 
were  returned,  while  forty  were  new  members.  Thus 
some  States  made  radical  changes.  Out  of  a  delegation 
of  twelve,  North  Carolina  returned  only  four.  The  year 
1864  was  to  witness  a  more  desperate  struggle  than  1863. 
The  disasters  and  misfortunes  of  1863  had  begotten  a 
Peace  Party  in  the  South.  In  each  State  there  was  a 
party  that  longed  for  peace.  The  suffering  had  become 
so  fearful  that  stout  hearts  were  failing.     In  some  States 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  23 

there  was  such  a  strong  feeling  for  peace  that  it  was 
asked  for  "at  any  price."  Some  were  for  "peace  made 
between  their  States  and  the  United  States  without  con- 
sulting the  Confederate  government.  In  North  Caro- 
lina the  campaign  issue  was  "peace  at  any  price,"  or 
"peace  through  the  Confederacy."  W.  W.  Holden  and 
his  following  were  for  peace  at  any  price,  but  Vance 
said  that  "peace  could  come  about  only  through  Con- 
federate channels;  that  North  Carolina  was  in  duty 
bound  to  her  sister  States. "  No  sooner  was  the  new  Con-  • 
gress  assembled  than  this  matter  began  to  be  discussed. 
Two  days  after  the  session  opened  one  member  an- 
nounced that  he  was  in  favor  of  appointing  commission- 
ers to  be  ready  to  treat  with  the  United  States  when  they 
stood  ready.  Another  declared  that  the  suspension  of 
the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  had  begotten  so  much  fear  and 
disloyalty  in  his  State  that  he  was  for  peace  on  the  basis 
of  the  independence  of  the  South  if  it  should  be  obtained, 
but  for  peace  on  the  best  terms  possible  short  of  subjuga- 
tion. The  same  member  introduced  resolutions  on  May 
23d  favoring  the  appointment  of  peace  commissioners 
and  an  armistice  of  ninety  days  to  consider  such  terms  of 
peace  as  will  be  consistent  with  honor,  dignity,  and  the 
independence  of  the  States,  and  compatible  with  the 
safety  of  our  social  and  political  rights.  Through  May 
and  June  this  discussion  continued,  and  it  is  said  often  , 
became  "somewhat  stormy  and  personal."  Finally  the 
matter  was  tabled,  and  not  taken  up  again  till  the  next 
session. 

In  the  meantime  Grant  began  his  fearful  hammering 

in  the  wilderness.     Each  stroke  of  his  gigantic  hammer 

made  a  gap  in  the   Confederate  ranks  that  no  conscript 

law  could  fill  up.     When  Congress  re-assembled  in  No-' 

4 


24  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

vember  peace  was  again  discussed,  and  a  motion  made 
to  appoint  thirteen  peace  commissioners,  one  from  each 
State,  to  see  what  might  be  done.  Some  States  like 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia  thought  that  something 
might  be  done  in  this  way.  There  was  also  in  some 
quarters  a  growing  discontent  with  the  Davis  adminis- 
tration. It  was  charged  on  the  floor  of  Congress  that 
Mr.  Davis  had  his  favorites,  and  that  they  were  among 
those  who  were  rankest  for  secession — the  old  line  Dem- 
ocrats. Josiah  Turner,  of  North  Carolina,  said  that  so 
intense  was  this  feeling  in  his  State  "that  at  the  last 
election  only  one  Democrat  was  returned,  and  that  he 
was  elected  by  the  small  majority  of  sixteen."  But  the 
peace  party  could  not  succeed  in  making  much  headway 
at  this  time,  for  in  the  midst  of  the  discussion  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions  were  proposed  by  Mr.  Henry,  of  Ten- 
nessee: "We  will  defend  our  altars  and  firesides  till 
the  last  votary  of  freedom  falls  around  them." 

As  the  army  of  Sherman  came  into  North  Georgia  and 
took  possession  of  the  rich  granaries,  a  growing  discon- 
tent with  the  Confederate  government  became  manifest. 
No  person  manifested  this  feeling  more  than  Governor 
Brown.  In  his  message  to  the  Legislature  in  March, 
1864,  he  declared  that  "  the  action  of  Congress  in  fund- 
ing certain  notes  resembled  repudiation  and  bad  faith ; 
that  the  secret  sessions  were  a  blighting  course  conveni- 
ent for  discussing  what  will  not  bear  the  light;  that  the 
new  conscript  law  was  unconstitutional,  as  was  also  the 
suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus."*"*  The  Legisla- 
ture, however,  voted  their  confidence  in  the  president 
and  the  Confederate  government.  Governor  Brown  pro- 
posed to  General  Sherman,  and  later  in  November  stated 
in  a  message  to  the  Legislature,  that  the  war  should  stop 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  25 

and  each  State  determine  for  itself  what  its  future  rela- 
tions should  be — "whether  she  will  remain  in,  or,  if 
out,  return  to  the  old  Union,  or  adhere  to  her  present 
league."  Many  newspapers  in  Georgia  and  Alabama 
openly  advocated  this  plan.  In  Congress  such  a  plan 
met  little  sympathy.  * 

So  depleted  was  Lee's  army  by  the  constant  hammer- 
ing of  Grant,  that  the  arming  of  the  slaves  was  now 
seriously  considered.  This  matter  had  been  under  con- 
sideration for  some  time.  The  slaves  had  been  used  in 
various  capacities  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  They 
had  labored  on  fortifications  as  cooks,  pioneers,  nurses, 
and  teamsters.  In  1861  and  1862  Tennessee  and  Vir- 
ginia had  discussed  the  enlistment  of  free  negroes. 
Slaves  were  needed  to  work  on  fortifications,  but  many 
masters  refused  to  hire  them.  Governor  Brown,  of 
Georgia,  threatened  to  draft  them.  In  February,  1864, 
Congress  made  all  male  negroes  between  eighteen  and 
fifty  liable  to  such  military  duty  as  the  secretary  of  war 
might  prescribe.  He  was  also  authorized  to  employ 
twenty  thousand  slaves,  and  to  guarantee  their  own- 
ers against  death  or  escape. 

The  governors  of  several  States  had  held  an  informal 
convention  at  Augusta  and  had  recommended  the  exten- 
sive use  of  the  negro  in  the  army.  These  measures  of 
the  early  part  of  the  year  are  distinct  from  the  proposi- 
tion made  at  the  November  session  of  Congress  that 
looked  to  the  arming  of  the  slave  and  putting  him  into 
the  ranks  of  the  Confederate  Army.  In  November  Mr. 
Davis  informed  Congress  that  the  February  act  that 
looked  to  the  use  of  20,000  slaves  "had  produced  less 
results  than  was  anticipated."  Mr.  Davis  now  in  No- 
vember,   1864,  proposed  that  the  Confederate   govern- 


26  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

ment  should  acquire  the  entire  property  in  slaves  to  the 
number  of  40,000,  train  them  in  camp  and  engineering 
work,  and  promise  emancipation  for  faithful  service. 
Beyond  this  Mr.  Davis  did  not  think  that  it  was  wise  to 
go  at  this  time.  He  declared  that  he  dissented  from  the 
opinion  of  those  who  favored  a  general  levy  and  arming, 
but  he  declared  further  "that  if  the  alternative  ever  be 
presented  of  subjugation  or  the  employment  of  the  slave 
as  a  soldier,  there  seems  no  reason  to  doubt  what  should 
then  be  our  decision."  A  bill  was  introduced  embody- 
ing the  president's  suggestions  and  even  more,  but  pub- 
lic sentiment  was  not  yet  ready  for  the  passage  of  such  a 
bill.  The  bill  passed  the  House,  but  was  defeated  in 
the  Senate  by  one  vote.  In  the  Senate  it  was  opposed 
by  Chambers,  of  Mississippi,  and  Hunter,  of  Virginia. 
They  argued  that  "there  was  no  necessity  for  it; 
that  the  recent  Wilderness  campaigns  were  the  most 
brilliant  victories  of  the  war;  that  the  army  was  not  ap- 
proaching exhaustion;  that  the  negro  was  a  poor  soldier; 
that  he  would  desert  to  the  enemy;  and  finally,  that  if  he 
were  fit  to  be  a  soldier,  he  was  fit  to  be  a  freeman;  that 
his  emancipation,  which,  of  course  must  follow,  was  a 
surrender  of  all  for  which  the  war  had  been  fought;  that 
he  would  not  volunteer,  for  they  feared  the  Yankees  now 
that  they  had  begun  to  conscript  thetn." 

These  arguments  were  paradoxical.  True  it  was  that 
Lee's  campaigns  in  the  Wilderness  were  victories,  but 
they  were  Pyrrhic  victories.  Weaker  and  weaker  grew 
the  resistance  that  kept  Grant  from  Richmond.  True, 
there  was  food  in  the  South.  But  what  booted  it  if  it 
could  not  be  delivered  to  the  starving  soldiers  in  Vir- 
ginia? 

Upon  the  failure  of  the  Hampton  Roads  Peace  Con- 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  27 

ference,  a  great  meeting  was  held  iu  the  African  church 
at  Richmond.  Secretary  of  War  Benjamin  addressed 
the  meeting  and  closed  by  demanding  that  the  slaves 
should  be  freed  and  put  into  the  army  to  fight  for  their 
country.  On  the  next  day  a  bill  was  introduced  in 
the  House  to  give  effect  to  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Ben- 
jamin. 

Public  sentiment  was  in  advance  of  Congress,  for  the 
Virginia  Legislature  had  already  requested  her  Senators 
to  vote  for  the  measure.  These  Senators  changed  their 
votes  and  the  bill  for  arming  slaves  was  passed.  The 
main  provision  was  that  not  more  than  25  per  cent,  of 
the  negro  male  population  between  the  ages  of  18  and 
50  were  to  be  employed;  that  the  General-in-chief  was 
to  organize  them  and  the  President  to  appoint  officers 
for  them,  but  no  mention  was  made  of  emancipation. 

General  Lee  and  President  Davis  had  both  favored 
this  measure,  but  Congress  delayed  too  long  to  be  able 
to  reap  any  benefit  from  it.  February  was  too  late. 
Grant's  army  would  soon  be  in  motion  drawing  closer 
and  closer  around  Richmond.  The  measure  was  the  last 
desperate  effort  to  stem  the  torrent  that  was  about  to 
overwhelm  the  thinned  ranks  of  Lee's  army.  Before 
the  slaves  could  be  armed  the  Confederacy  had  ended. 
After  the  conference  at  Hampton  Roads,  at  which 
Messrs.  Lincoln  and  Seward  conferred  with  Messrs. 
Stephens,  Hunter  and  Campbell,  there  were  many  in  the 
Congress  who  felt  that  then  and  there  peace  should  have 
been  made  upon  the  best  terms  possible.  The  Federal 
government,  through  Mr.  Lincoln,  positively  refused  to 
recognize  the  independence  of  the  Confederacy,  but  the 
world  knew  that  its  doom  was  already  sealed.  All  see 
it  now.     The  wonder  is  that  the  Confederacy  survived 


28  THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS. 

so  long.  Its  courage  was  the  courage  of  despair,  and  its 
strength  the  strength  of  a  military  despotism. 

Congress  was  in  session  during  these  last  days  of  the 
Confederacy,  but  Mr.  Davis  dominated;  its  voice  was 
seldom  heard,  and  then  only  in  weak  tones.  Till  the 
last,  however,  it  preserved  the  appearance  of  a  delibera- 
tive body,  but  Grant's  army  was  too  near  for  important 
action.  In  fact,  Congress,  like  the  array,  was  nearing 
exhaustion.  But  both  had  determined  to  end  the 
struggle  with  a  courage  worthy  of  their  sacrifices.  With- 
in one  month  of  the  disappearance  of  the  Confederacy, 
Congress  united  in  one  last  desperate  appeal  to  the  peo- 
ple. This  appeal  is  full  of  vigor  and  determination  and 
pictures  in  lurid  colors  how  the  Confederate  States  would 
be  held  as  "conquered  provinces  "  by  the  despotic  gov- 
ernment at  Washington,  the  negro  slave  elevated  above 
his  master,  and  the  property  distributed  among  the 
African  bondsmen." 

On  March  13th,  President  Davis  sent  his  last  message 
to  the  Congress,  urging  them  to  make  more  useful  the 
system  of  impressment,  and  saying  that  the  delay  of  the 
bill  enlisting  negroes  would  diminish  their  efficiency. 
They  had  tried  to  do  his  orders,  or  rather  professed  that 
they  had  done  the  best  they  could.  On  March  18th, 
Congress  adjourned  never  to  meet  again.  Many  of  them 
knew  that  the  end  was  at  hand.  In  a  few  days  the  lines 
around  Richmond  were  broken,  and  soon  the  end  came 
at  Appomattox.  The  last  days  of  Congress  had  not  been 
full  of  harmony.  The  "  peace  party"  was  not  favorably 
regarded.  They  were  reconstructionists  who  would  sac- 
rifice the  Confederacy,  but  their  constituents  had  become 
convinced  that  the  Confederacy  was  striving  only  to 
protect  Richmond;  that  the  rest  had  been  sacrificed. 


THE  CONFEDERATE  CONGRESS.  29 

When  the  records  of  this  Congress  shall  have  been 
published,  then  it  may  be  possible  to  pass  wiser  judg- 
ment upon  men  and  measures.  Its  days  were  days  of 
storm  and  tempest.  The  standards  of  peace  may  not 
measure  its  worth. 


